For those wanting to understand why the political deliberation over gay marriage is such a sensitive subject for this White House, look no further than the fact that it splits the two core constituencies that make up President Obama's base: college-aged voters and African-Americans.

In all likelihood, it'll be more vexing for the 2016 nominee. Chances are, it won't be an African-American candidate (prove me wrong, Deval Patrick!) with strong natural ties to Afr-Am voters. It'll be an Anglo male or female who will either be a strong supporter of gay marriage or a recent convert during the 2016 cycle. So the question of what becomes of these two constituencies won't be hypothetical forever.

On an additional point of fracturing Democratic constituencies, I'm reminded that I need to renew my online subscription to TNR due to this paywalled article about the divide between Obama and the hedge fund wing of the Democratic Party catching my interest. Alec MacGillis' work is worth the expense, I suppose. But it certainly helps that there's a lengthy Gordon Wood writeup in the same issue.